- From an early age Benedetto Marcello proved to be a man of great versatility: a poet, writer, musician, lawyer, judge, administrator and philologist, holding important posts in these functions during his entire life. As a composer he wrote a substantial oeuvre, covering all important fields of composition: sacred and secular choral works, opera and a large body of instrumental music.

- An important part of Marcello’s life was devoted to the Estro poetico-armonico, a substantial collection of musical settings of the first fifty Psalms in an Italian paraphrase written by Girolamo Ascanio Giustiniani (1697-1749). They were not compositions intended for the liturgy, instead, each Psalm is a spiritual cantata, a form that followed in the wake of the oratorio and religious music in general, spreading rapidly through Italy from the early 17th century. The aesthetic style of the Estro poetico-armonico avoids excessive use of counterpoint and harmony, and focuses on catching melodies and expression of the emotions of the text.

- This new recording presents the Psalms 42 and 50, performed by the Coro Istituzione Armonica and the Ensemble Il Narvalo, conducted by Alberto Turco.